JPH10210260A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce work when facsimile transmission is performed by attaching a document which is recorded on a sheet to document data generated by a computer by reading information described on an original, inputting, storing its image data and transmitting the stored image data within one communication as well as the image data transmitted by a facsimile transmitting means. SOLUTION: A PC.I/F 11 is connected so as to enable data communication and a control command and the image data are transmitted and received between the PC.I/F11 and the PC 20. The information described on the original is read, the data is inputted by a scanner 8 and furthermore, the image data is stored by an SAF memory 5. Then the image data stored in the SAF memory is transmitted within one communication with the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmitting means by a CPU 2. In addition, the stored image data is transmitted within one communication by being inserted into a page specified by the computer of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmitting means by the CPU 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a communication device such as a facsimile machine having an interface with a computer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a computer device is connected via an interface, and a communication device (for example, a special device) that transmits facsimile image data of a document transmitted from the computer device to a designated facsimile device via a communication line. No. Hei 3-210870).

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional communication apparatus, the image data of the document transmitted from the computer device is merely transmitted to the other party as it is using a modem. There has been a problem that the operation of attaching and transmitting data is complicated.

[0004] For example, when facsimile transmission is required in a single communication by attaching image data of a hand-held map to image data of a document created in a computer device, the following operation is required.

(1) A scanner device is connected to a computer device, image data of a map is taken in by the scanner device, the image data is edited into image data of a transmission document, and a document is re-created. Send by facsimile. (2) A printer is connected to the computer device, and a document transmitted from the computer device is printed out on paper by the printer, and the document and the map are combined and a normal facsimile transmission is performed by the communication device.

(3) After the image data of the document transmitted by the computer device is facsimile-transmitted via the communication device, the map is separately transmitted by facsimile to the same destination. However, in this case, the communication could not be performed by one communication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has been made to reduce the work required to attach a document recorded on a paper to document data created by a computer and perform facsimile transmission by one communication. Aim.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an interface connected to a computer for data communication, a data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving control commands and image data via the interface, Image data input means for reading information written on a document and inputting the image data in a communication device having facsimile transmission means for facsimile transmitting image data received by the means to another communication device via a communication line And image data storage means for storing image data input by the means, and control means for transmitting the image data stored in the means together with the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means in one communication. It is.

The control means inserts the image data stored in the image data storage means into a page of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means specified by the computer and transmits the data within one communication. It may be a means.

Further, there is provided image data management means for managing a plurality of image data stored in the image data storage means,
The control means may be a means for transmitting image data designated by the computer from image data managed by the image data management means together with image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means within one communication.

Further, there is provided image data management means for managing a plurality of pieces of image data stored in the image data storage means, and the control means is configured to switch the computer from the image data managed by the image data management means. The image data specified by the facsimile transmission means may be inserted into a page specified by the computer and transmitted within one communication.

According to the communication device of the first aspect of the present invention,
The information described in the manuscript is read, the image data is input and stored, and the image data is transmitted to another designated communication device via a communication line together with the image data received from the computer via the interface within one communication. Facsimile transmission, the complicated work of editing the document data created by the computer and the image data of the document recorded on the paper into one document, and the trouble of once printing the document data and facsimile transmitting it together with the paper document It is possible to easily perform facsimile transmission by one communication without performing such prior work.

According to the communication apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, the stored image data is inserted into a page of the image data transmitted by facsimile designated by the computer and transmitted within one communication. Therefore, a document recorded on paper can be easily inserted into an arbitrary page of a document to be transmitted by facsimile, so that a document which is easy to read can be transmitted.

Further, according to the communication apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the stored plurality of image data are managed, and the image data designated by the computer is stored in the facsimile from the managed image data. Since the image data is transmitted together with the image data to be transmitted within one communication, the image data of the document arbitrarily selected from a plurality of documents stored in advance can be inserted into the document to be transmitted by facsimile, and the image data that is frequently used can be stored as it is. And can be used many times.

Further, according to the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the stored plurality of image data is managed,
Among the managed image data, the image data specified by the computer is inserted into the page specified by the computer of the image data transmitted by facsimile and transmitted within one communication. Image data of a document arbitrarily selected from among a plurality of documents stored in advance at a plurality of locations can be inserted.

Also, since an attached file of a plurality of pieces of image data to be inserted in advance can be created, a complicated operation such as saving a frequently used file as it is and reading it many times is not required, and the work is reduced. be able to.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus which is an embodiment of the communication apparatus according to the present invention.

The facsimile apparatus 1 has a built-in microcomputer and a personal computer (PC) 2
0 is connected so as to be able to perform data communication, and has a function of inserting image data such as a map input from an original document into a document transmitted from the PC 20 and performing facsimile transmission by one communication.

The facsimile apparatus 1 includes a CPU 2, a ROM,
3, compression / decompression unit (DCR) 4, SAF memory 5, modem (MDM) 6, network control unit (NCU) 7, scanner 8, plotter 9, operation display unit (OPU) 10, PC interface (PC / I / F) ) 11, a bus 12, and the like.

The CPU 2 controls the entire facsimile apparatus based on a program stored in the ROM 3 and inserts image data such as a map input by itself into a document transmitted from the PC 20 according to the present invention. Control for facsimile transmission in one communication is also performed. ROM3 is CPU2
Is a read-only memory that stores various control programs to be executed.

The DCR 4 compresses and expands image data to be transmitted and received by facsimile. The SAF memory 5 is a memory for compressing and storing image data read and input by the scanner 8. The MDM 6 modulates and demodulates image data to be transmitted and received by facsimile. The NCU 7 is connected to a PSTN line and uses a public line (PSTN) for facsimile communication.
Network control of the line).

The scanner 8 is an image reading device that optically reads information recorded on a document (paper surface) and inputs the image data. The plotter 9 is an ink-jet type or laser type printing device that prints image data or the like received by facsimile on recording paper.

The OPU 10 includes an input device such as a keyboard for the operator to perform various operation inputs, and a display device such as an LCD for displaying various operation information to the operator. The PC / I / F 11 is a bicentro interface connected to the PC 20 so that data communication is possible.
The control command and the image data are transmitted and received between the control command and image data.

The PC 20 is a computer including a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and includes an input device, a display device, a storage device, and the like. At the time of facsimile transmission, various control commands such as a transmission destination, designation of an insertion document, designation of an insertion page, and image data of a transmission document are transmitted.

That is, the PC I / F 11 corresponds to an interface connected to a computer so that data communication is possible. Further, the CPU 2 functions as a data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving a control command and image data via the interface. Further, the CPU 2 and the NCU 7 function as facsimile transmitting means for facsimile transmitting image data received by the data transmitting / receiving means to another communication apparatus via a communication line.

The scanner 8 functions as image data input means for reading information written on a document and inputting the image data. Further, the SAF memory 5
Function as image data storage means for storing image data input by the image data input means. The CPU 2 functions as a control unit for transmitting the image data stored in the image data storage unit together with the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission unit in one communication.

The CPU 2 also has a function of a means for inserting the image data stored in the image data storage means into a page designated by the computer of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means and transmitting the data within one communication. Fulfill.

Further, the CPU 2 includes image data management means for managing a plurality of image data stored in the image data storage means, and image data designated by the computer from among the image data managed by the image data management means. Is transmitted in one communication together with the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means.

Further, the CPU 2 inserts the image data designated by the computer from the image data managed by the image data management means into a page designated by the computer of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means. And performs the function of means for transmitting within one communication.

Next, a normal facsimile transmission operation in the facsimile machine 1 will be described. CPU2
When a command for a facsimile transmission request is sent from the PC 20 via the PC / I / F 11 by the Vicentro interface, and information such as the transmission destination (telephone number of the facsimile) and the image size such as A4 is transmitted, Calls the destination and starts facsimile transmission.

Then, the CPU 2 converts the image data compressed by the application on the PC 20 side into a PC I / F.
11, the image data is sequentially transmitted to the MDM 6
, And facsimile-transmits to the destination by the NCU 7 via the PSTN line.

Next, P in the facsimile machine 1
A process of facsimile transmitting the image data of the document received from C20 and the image data read by the scanner 8 in one communication will be described.

In the facsimile machine 1, when the operator performs an operation of reading image data such as a map to be attached / inserted in advance by the scanner 8 by the operator, the CPU 2 compresses the image data input from the scanner 8 by the DCR 4 and stores it in the SAF memory 5. Let it accumulate.

Thereafter, when the facsimile transmission operation, facsimile transmission instruction, destination input, and selection of the presence or absence of the attached image are performed in the facsimile transmission operation, the PC 20 transmits them to the facsimile machine 1.

The CPU 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1 has a PC 2
When the facsimile transmission instruction, the destination, and the presence / absence of an attached image are received from 0, the normal facsimile transmission described above is executed if there is no attached image.

If there is an attached image, a call is sent to the destination to start facsimile transmission, and the image data compressed by the application on the PC 20 side is transmitted to the PC / I / F 11.
The image data is sequentially transmitted to the MDM 6 for modulation, and facsimile-transmitted by the NCU 7 to the destination via the PSTN line.

After transmitting the last page of the image data received from the PC 20 to the MDM 6, the CPU 2 subsequently reads out the image data stored in the SAF memory 5, and
The data is transmitted to M6, modulated, and facsimile-transmitted by the NCU 7 to the destination via the PSTN line. When the transmission is completed, the line is disconnected and the facsimile transmission is completed.

In the above-described processing, the image data in the SAF memory 5 is attached after the image data of the document received from the PC 20. However, the image data may be attached to the head and transmitted.

In this case, after calling the destination, the PC 20
Then, a wait command for image data transmission is sent to wait for the image data in the SAF memory 5 to be facsimile-transmitted first, and then the standby is released, and the image data transmitted from the PC 20 is sequentially facsimile-transmitted. You can do it.

In this way, the image data previously stored in the SAF memory 5 together with the image data received from the PC 20 is transmitted by facsimile to another designated facsimile apparatus via the PSTN line within one communication.

Therefore, when a facsimile apparatus 1 transmits a document created by the PC 20 by facsimile, if there is a document such as a map to be attached to the document, the operator connects the scanner apparatus to the PC 20 to display the image of the document. This eliminates the need for a complicated operation of reading the image and editing the image into a transmission document, and the document can be facsimile-transmitted in one communication by a simple operation.

Next, P in the facsimile machine 1
A process of inserting image data read by the scanner 8 into an arbitrary page of the image data of the document received from the C20 and performing facsimile transmission will be described.

In the facsimile machine 1, image data such as a map to be inserted in advance by an operator is
When the reading operation is performed by the CPU 2, the CPU 2 compresses the image data input from the scanner 8 by the DCR 4, and
The data is stored in the AF memory 5 and accumulated.

Thereafter, when the facsimile transmission operation, facsimile transmission instruction, destination input, selection of presence / absence of an insertion image, and insertion page instruction are performed in the facsimile transmission operation, the PC 20 transmits them to the facsimile apparatus 1.

The CPU 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1
When the facsimile transmission instruction, the destination, the presence / absence of the insertion image, and the insertion page are received from 0, the normal facsimile transmission described above is executed if there is no insertion image.

If there is an inserted image, a call is made to the destination to start facsimile transmission, and the image data compressed by the application on the PC 20 side is sent to the PC / I / F 11.
The image data is sequentially transmitted to the MDM 6 for modulation, and facsimile-transmitted by the NCU 7 to the destination via the PSTN line.

At this time, the CPU 2 manages the page of the image data received from the PC 20 based on the code data because the compressed image data includes the code data “EOFB” indicating the interval between the pages. When the corresponding page is detected, PC
20 while giving a wait instruction to MDM6
The image data in the AF memory 5 is transmitted and facsimile-transmitted. When the image data in the SAF memory 5 has been transmitted, the wait instruction is released to the PC 20 and the facsimile transmission of the image data transmitted from the PC 20 is executed. I do.

In this manner, the insertion page of the image data stored in the facsimile apparatus 1 can be arbitrarily specified by the operation from the PC 20, and the document is inserted into an optimum page according to the content of the document so that the document can be easily viewed. Can be transmitted to the destination.

Next, P in the facsimile machine 1
A process of inserting a plurality of pieces of image data read and accumulated by the scanner 8 into a plurality of locations of the image data of the document received from the C20 and performing facsimile transmission will be described.

In the facsimile machine 1, the operator performs an operation of reading a plurality of image data such as maps to be inserted in advance by the scanner 8 and inputs a file number assigned to each image data. Compress the data by DCR4,
Each image data is given a file number, stored in the SAF memory 5 in a file format, and accumulated.

Thereafter, when the facsimile transmission operation, facsimile transmission instruction, destination input, selection of presence / absence of an inserted image, and instruction of an insertion page indicating an insertion file number and an insertion position are performed in the facsimile transmission operation, the PC 20 sends the facsimile apparatus 1 to the facsimile apparatus 1. Send them.

The CPU 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1
When the facsimile transmission instruction, the destination, the presence / absence of the insertion image, the insertion file number and the insertion page indicating the insertion position are received from 0, the normal facsimile transmission described above is executed if there is no insertion image.

If there is an inserted image, a call is made to the destination to start facsimile transmission, and the image data compressed by the application on the PC 20 side is transmitted to the PC / I / F 11.
The image data is sequentially transmitted to the MDM 6 for modulation, and facsimile-transmitted by the NCU 7 to the destination via the PSTN line.

At that time, the CPU 2 manages the page of the image data received from the PC 20 on the basis of the code data because the compressed image data includes the code data “EOFB” indicating the interval between the pages. When the corresponding page is detected, PC
While the wait instruction is issued to the PC 20, the image data in the SAF memory 5 specified in the insertion file is transmitted to the MDM 6 for facsimile transmission, and when the image data in the SAF memory 5 has been transmitted, the PC 20 is transmitted. On the other hand, the wait instruction is released, and facsimile transmission of the image data transmitted from the PC 20 is executed.

Further, the above processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. PCF requesting facsimile transmission from PC in step (indicated by "S" in the figure) 1
If there is an AX request command, the process proceeds to step 2 to determine whether or not facsimile communication is possible. If facsimile communication is not possible, the process proceeds to step 11 to notify the PC that facsimile communication is not possible and ends this processing.

If it is determined in step 2 that facsimile communication is possible, the flow advances to step 3 to receive information such as the destination facsimile number (TEL No.), image size, and presence / absence of an attached image from the PC. To receive the attached file information such as the inserted file number and the inserted page, proceed to step 5, call the destination, and perform the phase B of the facsimile communication.

Thereafter, the flow advances to step 6 to check the attached file information to determine whether or not there is an attached image. If yes, the flow advances to step 12 to send a wait instruction (WAIT instruction) to the PC, and then to step 13. In the file No. corresponding to the insertion file number, Is read from the SAF memory and sent to the modem, and the process proceeds to step 9 to determine whether there is no facsimile transmission image data.

If it is determined in step 9 that there is data to be transmitted, the flow returns to step 6 to check the attached file information to determine whether or not there is an attached image. If not, the flow proceeds to step 7 and, when a WAIT instruction is issued to the PC, WAIT is issued. A cancel is sent, and the flow advances to step 8 to receive one page of image data from the PC and send it to the modem. The flow advances to step 9 to determine whether there is no facsimile transmission image data. If not, the flow advances to step 10. The line is disconnected in the phase D of the facsimile communication, and the process is terminated.

That is, the processing routine of steps 6 to 9 and steps 12 and 13 makes the PC 20
Then, the image data of the specified file is inserted into the specified page of the image data received from the SAF memory 5 from the file of the image data stored in advance in the SAF memory 5 and facsimile-transmitted.

For example, two types of image data are stored in the facsimile machine 1 in advance with file numbers "001" and "00", respectively.
After registration with “2”, the PC 20 inserts the insertion file number “00” into the insertion page “3” together with the image data of the transmission document.
1 is added to the insertion page “6” by the insertion file number “00”.
And sends it to the facsimile machine 1 in correspondence with "2".

Then, the CPU 2 of the facsimile machine 1
After transmitting the image data of page 1 or 2 received from the PC 20, transmitting the image data of the insertion file “001”, and subsequently receiving the image data of page 3 to 5 from the PC 20 and sequentially transmitting Then, the image data of the insertion file “002” is transmitted, and the image data of the remaining pages is subsequently received from the PC 20 and sequentially transmitted.

Therefore, the PC 20 can insert the image data of the file number “001” on the third page of the transmission document and insert the image data of the file number “002” on the sixth page, and send it. When inserting the above-mentioned page, the inserted page “3” may be inserted between the third and fourth pages of the transmission document received from the PC 20.

In this way, a plurality of insertion pages in the image data stored in the facsimile apparatus 1 are arbitrarily specified by the operation from the PC 20, and the S
It is possible to insert and transmit arbitrarily designated image data from a plurality of image data stored in the AF memory 5, and to transmit a document having various contents to a destination.

Further, since an attached file of a plurality of pieces of image data to be inserted in advance in the SAF memory 5 can be created, it is not necessary to perform a cumbersome operation of saving a frequently used file as it is and reading it many times. Thus, the work of the operator can be reduced.

[0065]

As described above, according to the communication apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the work required for facsimile transmission in one communication by attaching a document recorded on paper to document data created by a computer. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus which is an embodiment of a communication apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of inserting facsimile image data read by a scanner into image data of a document received from a PC in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: facsimile device 2: CPU 3: ROM 4: compression / decompression unit (DCR) 5: SAF memory 6: modem (MDM) 7: network control unit (NCU) 8: scanner 9: plotter 10: operation display unit (OPU) 11: PC interface (PC I / F) 12: Bus 20: Personal computer (PC)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An interface connected to a computer for data communication, data transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving control commands and image data via the interface, and image data received by the means being transmitted to another computer via a communication line. A communication device comprising facsimile transmission means for facsimile transmission to a communication device, comprising: image data input means for reading information written on a document and inputting the image data; and image data for storing the image data input by the means. A communication apparatus comprising: a storage unit; and a control unit configured to transmit image data stored in the unit together with image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission unit in one communication. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stores the image data stored in the image data storage unit in a page specified by the computer of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission unit. A communication device, which is means for inserting and transmitting within one communication. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising image data management means for managing a plurality of pieces of image data stored in said image data storage means, wherein said control means controls said image data by said image data management means. A communication device for transmitting image data designated by the computer from among the managed image data together with the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission unit in one communication. 4. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: image data management means for managing a plurality of pieces of image data stored in said image data storage means, wherein said control means is provided by said image data management means. Means for inserting image data designated by the computer from among the managed image data into a page designated by the computer of the image data transmitted by the facsimile transmission means and transmitting the data within one communication. Characteristic communication device.